Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Weird Times

Posted December 17th, 2023 | Comments Off on Weird Times

The Eagles are 10-3. They’re also coming off consecutive blowout losses. This is a weird time for the Eagles. And things just got weirder.

Wow.

I didn’t see Nick Sirianni making a change like this in mid-December. This move certainly reeks of desperation. That doesn’t mean it is the wrong move.

Desai took over the defense of a team coming off a Super Bowl and hoping to get back to that level. The defense has been up and down this year, but has really struggled recently, giving up 33 or more points in three straight weeks. Normally Sirianni would let the coach work through that.

I’m guessing Sirianni was especially frustrated with the defense because it was so bad at situational football. He preaches the critical nature of those areas, but the Eagles defense is dead last in third down defense and 30th in red zone defense. If you can’t win in those situations, you aren’t going far in January. Making matters worse, the Eagles are 22nd in takeaways.

Put simply, the defense isn’t making enough key plays.

That would make sense if the defense was devoid of talent. While there are some gaps, there is still enough talent that the group should be playing at a higher level.

Can Matt Patricia make a difference? He was a terrible head coach in Detroit, but was part of some good defenses in New England. They were Top 10 in points allowed all six years he was the DC. They were Top 14 in takeaways in 4 of 6 years. They were Top 10 in 3rd down and red zone defense multiple times. There is no question that Bill Belichick was a key part of that, but Patricia was part of the success as well.

Patricia doesn’t need to have all the answers. He just has to get the Eagles to be better on third down and in the red zone. I have no idea if he’ll do that. It is incredibly hard to evaluate coaches from NE because Belichick has such influence on everything they do. Brian Flores worked in NE with Patricia and Flores is doing a great job with the Vikings defense this season.

The one area where Patricia definitely has an advantage over Desai is playoff experience. He was the DC for three Super Bowl teams. He has coached in plenty of big games and understands what it takes to win in January (unless he’s facing Nick Foles, of course).

I have very mixed feelings on this move. I don’t like making changes like this in December. But the defense didn’t fall apart until the last three weeks. There were up and down for the first 10 games of the season. Sirianni must feel like he doesn’t want to waste this season so the change had to be made. Worry about the future in the offseason.

It is tough to have confidence in Patricia because of his failure in Detroit. They got worse each year, overall and on defense. I do think he’s a better assistant coach than some fans and media members would have you believe. He was an awful head coach and no one is going to dispute that.

I don’t know what the players are going to think. Does a big move like this shake things up and really get their attention? Does this come across as panicky and make them lose confidence in the staff overall? We’ll get some hints on Monday night.

*****

I’ve liked some of what Sirianni did this week, but one thing did jump out at me. He’s been awkward in his press conferences. Sirianni has been defensive in answers to some questions. The recent struggles are affecting him.

Sirianni started off 2-5 in 2021. He was new to being a coach and didn’t get prickly with the media. He gave his famous flower answer. Since then Sirianni and the Eagles haven’t faced much adversity. The team is 33-11 since that speech.

Now Sirianni has an edge to him. When he doesn’t like questions, his answers have a vibe like “I’m a Super Bowl coach. I shouldn’t have to answer this stuff.” That’s not ideal.

We know Sirianni is an emotional guy. Think about him yelling after the win over the Colts last year when he was angry that they fired Frank Reich. Or this year when Sirianni yelled at some Chiefs fans after the Eagles win. That edge is part of what drives Sirianni and has made him successful.

But it can hurt him as well if he doesn’t know when to dial things down. I watch all of his press conferences. Not one question has been out of line. Sirianni might not like all of them, but they aren’t unreasonable. If Sirianni is being defensive and awkard with the media, what’s he like behind closed doors with his players and coaches?

A team going through a rough patch needs calm, strong leadership.

*****

Who made this move? Was it Sirianni, Jeff Lurie or Howie Roseman? It doesn’t feel like a Sirianni move, but he’s never gone through anything like the last three weeks.

Buffalo fired their OC and the offense immediately got better. That could have inspired Sirianni to make the move.

Washington fired their DC and the results are the same…bad. The Steelers fired their OC and it worked great for a week, but things have gone back to mediocre since then. Injuries are part of the issue there.

We’ll hear stories in the coming weeks, but I’m not sure if we’ll know for sure whether this was the coach’s decision or if he was pressured to make a move.

The key for now is if the move works.

Monday night should be interesting.

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